Garment



June 2, 1953 B. v. GO'ULD 2,640,196

GARMENT Filed Feb. 12, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR. I

BY MUM P A TORNE I? B. V. GOULD GARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1949 I I l m T N m N I Patented June 2, 1953 GARMENT ifiarhara G uld C veland heights wa t) Ayplication February 12, 194$;Serig1N0- 76, 83

sGlaim invention relates to an improvement in igird-les, and, more pa-rticularly, to a garment which may be wernas-a girdleor may lee-simply :andquicklyconverted to -a panty-g-irdle 'Heretofore, girdles which may he converted-to -panty=girdles have accomplished this iobject by 'means def .-:detachab1e crotch :pieces which have iheen tincomfortableto wear due to thetender-icy of the garment to ride up. It is an object cf my invention to provide a garment which, when :worn .as a girdle, :provides excellent control of :the lower abdomen and ibuttocks Without being zcutsolow as :to cutor be uncomfortable. At "the :same Ltime, the girdle resists tendencies to ride up when wom. It ish still further 'object o-imy invention =-to provide means whereby the afore- .said girdle maybe converted to a panty gi'rdle having no crotch piece, but rather, by pieces lwhich -without pressure-on the groin-restrain the .garment from:riding up and-simultaneously control the upper thigh. "It-is aparticula-r advantage of my invention that the above objects are achieved, even while the wearer ;-may he engaged inactive exercise -or-sports.

It is sa-stillf-urtherobj ectand advantage of my garment that a relatively small stock ,Qf the .gird-les and lag pieces may he employed to provide-a wide variety of si-zes.

in general, I achieve theforegoing objects and :advantages by providing a gird'le which i essentially comprised of two substantially independent hands of wide webs -of elastic fabric, the :two "bands bei-ng inter-fitted and set at angles to each other-so that --the center of each band ;is above :one hipandbelow=theopl ositehip o-f-the wearer.

The portion of each band which is "worn below fi the point of-"the hip is preferably joined with a slide fastener which permits asomewhat-narrower leg piece web to he joined ;tothehand.

Although difiicult toil-histrate in two-dimensional-draw ings, the-construction .of garme t :-is actuallyrelativelysimple, as, along with other obiects "and advantages, will be apparent from "the following specifieation, claims, and drawings, zinw-hich,

Fig. -1 is --an elevation ef-my garment, pressed that, when the garment is'to 'be-worn as a-simpie girdle.

Fig. 2 @is an elevation-of oneo-f the pairs of leg :hieces with which-the girdle shownin Fig. 1-may she.converted:toapanty-girdle.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of my garment-when aconverted to a panty girdle, the dotted dines inzdieatingitheirelativeiposition ofone looP-andatdamenlegnie e.

Referring to 1 of :the drawings which the girdle perlse :is shown, the ipreierned embodi- -ment of any girdle istcomprised essentially 111 ;two substantially independentlloops or bands, hand I, of elastic sfabric, netting or iwebbing, which "may either stretch along :the .mm of the goods or may he soecal'led *twoeway stretch material. As shown in 'Fig. 1, ends of the :material in the hand NJ are joined together iby the seam 12, which also joins :the :band 11!. .itQ :the rband :Ial where the seam :[2 overlies the band Ill. Likewise, the ends of the band .11 are .efiectively oined '.together and 5150517119 fba-nd l-fl '-:by the .seam it, although. the two hands .14] and all are also gained-together adjacent the seam =.l32by.seam the seams rs and lltdefining :the: gusset 1| 5 which .carries the slide or :Othfll' idetachable Ifastener AB. The slide :fa-stener il'ii, when (119211,.11811111'115 the garment :to lue apart .on easily and, when closed, .causes. the .upperwportion of the garment sto rfit :closel-y onzthelwearer.

It will be noted in Fig. 1 of thedrawingssthat :the portion cf :the band fil l immediately below :the seam 1%2 transversely, theiedges..-of.sthe -s1it32#0 '.being joined by ltwo slide sfastener :chain tapes 2:! and .122 having --an o:peni-ng bottom stop andiconneeted or-disconneeted by a-slider .23. A similar tslit :30 is :provided in sthe 211017131011 of -.;the iband tfl. innned-iatelyzbelow theseam [3,. said slit fleeingtopenedlorclosed by: meansorthe slide ras- =tenerchain :tapeszikl and 32 and the slider .33. Theilchain tapes 31 and :32 are likewise prnvided withconventional opening bottomstops. Opera- :tionvof the sliders 23 and 33 to openzthe .slits i! andsiiell perm'it the -,=girdle to ebe taken-oh -or :put .on easily, abut :the eprincipazl punpose 10f the .said v. slideifasteneriis to permit the attachmentioi the 'lleg pieces tin converting the girdle .to :3. .-.pantygirdle, as will be described below.

Exceptior the loose connection 'provided by :the tabs :41] and it! at the .points of convergence @f the tops 0f the bands at!) andil I tandathe con- :nection provided rbyithe seams t2, ld and M, the itwoiinterfitted f bands-are substantially independ- ,ent. -of each other. :It is to be understood that where rthe-edgesofeone band toverlie the :other :hand, :such :edges --of ,0ne band may he tacked to :the otherlband to.-.prevent the bands from gapping with respect to each other; such tacking-deeshet :prevent the lunstitched areas drom amoving with :respect to each :othernor substantially i-mpairthe afunctionofethe' band-s in sustaining -thastrainsimiposed-thereon as though 'the bands were *vvhelly lindependent ofeach1othen Byi beingsetatan-angle teeaeh'other, :asshown in Fig. 1, each band acts, in effect, as a sling supported on one hip and confining and restraining the opposite buttock. At the same time, the crossed bands reinforce each other to support and restrain the lower abdomen of the wearer. Because the crossed bands are efiectively independent of each other and can have at least limited movement with respect to each other in the areas where they are crossed, the garment restrains and confines the covered areas of the body of the wearer while effecting a minimum of restraint on the movements of the wearer. The garment may thus be worn without appreciable interference during active exercise.

It will also be noted that the angularity at which the two bands I and I I are interfitted and set with respect to each other provides a garment conforming to the natural conformation of the hips and waist of the wearer. Further, the portions of the bands I0 and I I worn above the pelvis run in a direction approximating the direction of the external and internal oblique muscles of the abdomen; simultaneously, the crossed portions of the bands which extend below the top of the pelvis and across the abdomen exert a confining and uplifting action on the whole lower abdomen. The garment tends to fit snugly above and below the hips of the wearer, while being out high at the groin. The bottom edge of the garment does not tend to cut into the thighs of the wearer or produce a girdle line evident through outer clothing.

To convert the above-described girdle to a panty-girdle, a pair of leg pieces 50, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, are employed. The width of the leg pieces are equal to the length of the slits and and the lengths vary according to the size required for the wearer. The ends of the leg pieces carry a pair of slide fastener chain tapes SI and 52 having conventional opening bottom steps, a slider 53 being carried by the chain tape 5I.

To attach a leg piece 50 to the band II, the slit 2B is opened by sliding down the slider 23 and separating the chains 2| and 22. connecting the chain 52 to the chain 2I by the pulling up of the slider 23 and connecting the chain 5| to the chain 22 by pulling up the slider 23, the leg piece 50 becomes, in efiect, a reversing spiral extension of the band I I which encircles the thigh of the wearer, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Because the slit 20 is cut transversely to the web I I and the chains SI and 52 likewise extend transversely to the leg piece 50, the leg piece 50 wraps around the thigh i of the wearer at the same angularity as the band II extends across the abdomen and back of the wearer and thus encircles the thigh below the crotch.

To complete the conversion of the girdle shown in Fig. l to the panty-girdle shown in Fig. 3, a leg piece 56' is attached to the band II] by means of the slide fastener at the slit 3!) in a manner similar to that of attaching the leg piece 50 to the band II. The arrangement of the leg piece 50' with respect to the band to is shown in Fig. 3 only to the extent that solid lines will permit, in order to minimize the confusion of a dotted line.

When my garment is worn as a panty-girdle, the discomfort of a crotch piece is avoided. At the same time, the leg pieces anchor the girdle bands securely because construction permits the leg pieces to wrap flat around the thighs of the wearer while following the natural conformation Then, by

4 of the body of the wearer and permitting relatively unrestrained hip movement.

In addition to permitting the garment to be worn either as a girdle or a panty-girdle, the detachable leg pieces also greatly simplify the corsetiers problem of stocking the garments to provide the variety of sizes required. Girdles are conventionally stocked in small, medium and large sizes; by stocking leg pieces in small, medium and large lengths, the garments may be fitted to nearly all customers, despite the characteristic lack of uniformity between the hip and waist sizes and upper thigh sizes of the customers. By utilizing the available permutations of girdle and leg band sizes, three sizes of each will provide nine size combinations for the panty-girdle.

While the preferred detachable fastening means employed in my garment are slide fasteners, it is r to be understood that equivalent means, such as hooks and eyes, laces, and the like may be employed. Further, it is also to be understood that the bands and leg pieces need not consist of elastic material only, but may be made up of combined elastic and inelastic sections. This invention, therefore, is not restricted to the preferred embodiment disclosed but may be varied and modified within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit and purpose of my invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A figure-controlling garment comprising a first strip of relatively wide elastic material, a first seam joining the ends of said strip to form a first band, a second strip of relatively wide elastic material of dimensions substantially equal to said first strip, a second seam joining the ends of said second strip to form a second band, said first band being interfitted in said second band so that said bands across at the front and back of said garment and overlap at the sides of said garment, and side seams at each side of said garment joining said bands at the overlapped portions, whereby said bands are capable of at least limited relative movement with respect to each other at the front and back of the garment where the bands cross.

2. The garment as defined in claim 1 in which said side seams also constitute part of the first and second seams joining the strips of elastic material forming the first and second bands at the over-lapped portion of said bands.

3. The garment as defined in claim 1 in which each of said bands is slit at the side of the garment where the band is the lower of the overlapped bands and detachable fastener elements on the edges of said slits and joining the edges of said slits when the garment is worn as a girdle.

4. A garment as defined in claim 3 including a first strip of relatively narrow material, and detachable fastener elements on the ends of each of said strips, the detachable fastener element on one end of one strip being joined to one edge of the slit in the first band and the detachable fastener elements on the other end of said strip being joined to the other edge of said slit to provide a thigh-encircling piece for the first band, and second strip of relatively narrow material similarl joined to said second band to provide a thigh-encircling piece for said second band when said-garment is worn as a panty-girdle. I

5. A panty-girdle comprising a first strip of relatively wide elastic material joined at its ends to form a waist-and hip-encircling portion of a first band, an extension of relatively narrow material, integral with one end of said first strip and. reversely spiraled and joined to the other end of said first strip to provide a thigh-encircling portion of said first band, a second band 5 similar to first band, the waist and hip-encircling portions of said first and second bands being interfitted and set angularly with respect to each other so that a lower edge of the first band overlaps the upper edge of the second band above the thigh-encircling extension of the second hand and the lower edge of the second band overlaps the upper edge of the first band above the thighencircling extension of the first band, and means joining said bands at their overlapped portions but otherwise permitting at least limited movement of the bands with respect to each other.

BARBARA V. GOULD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 

